It’s an all too familiar story. A gracious older home is purchased in a wealthy enclave or resort frequented by the rich. While seemingly perfectly adequate, it is torn down, replaced by a bigger, brasher mega-mansion seemingly out of context with the landscape, natural beauty, an

Bookstores have always possessed such wonderful personalities — jumbled, cozy, charming. Hugh Grant’s bookstore in Notting Hill and Meg Ryan’s shop in

Here's my guide to visiting the beautiful Beacon Hill neighborhood in Boston. Colonial chic Beacon Hill is Boston's most adorable and classic New England neighborhood. This guide covers all the top must visit attractions and landmarks in Beacon Hill. You'll find all the best things to do, see, and eat in Beacon Hill. Read on for the best of Boston in this stunning red brick district!

"Beacon Hill House" is one of the more odd cottages in Newport RI. Built in 1909 for millionaire railroad magnate Arthur Curtiss James and his wife, Harriet, on the site of a previous home. Sitting atop the tallest hill on Aquidneck Island, it occupied one of the best spots in all of Newport, with sweeping views of the ocean and the magnificent gardens. Arthur Curtiss James Was A Quiet, Conservative Millionaire, Focussed Mainly On His Many Charitable Contributions Rather Than Society, Which Was Left To His Wife Harriet Edey James Was A Typical Society Debutant, She Loved Clothing, Jewels, Parties And Large Homes, She, Unlike Her Husband Who Just Signed The Checks, Was The Driving Force Behind "Beacon Hill House" The plans had been drawn up by Harriet herself and afterwards turned over to architects Howells & Stokes, who had the house completed between 1909 and 1910. The mansion was centered around the 2 story great hall and featured rooms designed for comfort, yet still acceptable for entertaining. There was no ballroom, in it's place was a removable wall in between the dining room and living room, so that at anytime the walls could be pushed back and the two rooms turned into one gala ballroom. The First Floor Of "Beacon Hill House" (Based On Photographs And Descriptions) The interior of the mansion was quite comfortable, compared to the high strung interiors of other Newport cottages. Each room had exceptional views of the grounds and the gardens, not to mention the fantastic ocean views. On the rare occasion that they were in Newport and not entertaining, the James spent most of their time away from one another, Mr. James in his study and Mrs James either in her boudoir or in the Della Robbia Room (conservatory). The 2-Story Great Hall Housed The Large James Collection Of Tapestries, Which At That Time Were Valued At $300,000 The Drawing Room, Which For Large Events Would Also Double As A Banquet Hall, Had Beautiful Parquet Floors, Which Were Covered Up By Three Large Polar Bear Rugs The Large Living Room, Which Doubled With The Dining Room To Create A Ballroom On Entertaining Nights, Was One Of The Most Comfortable Rooms In The House The Dark Dining Room Could Seat 40 People For Dinner, It Could Also Sit 2 People When The James Dined Alone The Della Robbia Room (Conservatory) Was Mrs. James's Favorite Room, Where She Could Spend Hours Reading About Flowers, Her Favorite Thing To Read About Shortly after the house was completed, the James had a farming complex added to the grounds. Surprisingly it was called The Swiss Valley Village, even though the buildings were designed in the Italian style. Over the years, James continued to add to Swiss Valley Village, eventually having cottages erected for all of his staff, a pergola with a flower-thatched roof were Mrs. James entertained friends, a cow barn, dairy plant, piggery, henhouse, smokehouse, carpenter shop and a maternity hospital. In 1917, a surprise birthday party was given at "Beacon Hill House" in honor of Mrs. James's birthday, at which the entire formation of the USS Vermont battleship attended. The party ended at 3 in the morning. Mrs. James decided she wanted to hold a large party at "Beacon Hill House", which she called "The Masque of the Blue Garden". The party would be held in the new Blue Gardens Mrs. James was having constructed. The large party would be the highlight of the season and would finally triumph over Mamie Fish's "Mother Goose Ball". On The Night Of The Ball Mrs. James Was Dripping With Sapphires, So Much So That People Called Her Lady Sapphira Throughout The Night The Night Only Added To The James's Already High Social Status, In Attendance That Night Were Vanderbilts, Astors, Belmonts, Reids, Whitneys, Fish, Oelrichs, Cushings, Clews, Van Pelts And More Besides in Newport, The James Also Had Residences In New York City, on the Hudson and in Florida. The James's Residence In New York City Had Been Built In 1917 And Was The James's Principal Residence Arthur Curtiss James's Estate On The Hudson Had Been Built Long Ago By James's Ancestors, Who Had Sold The Estate, James Bought It Back In 1921 The James's Estate In Florida Was Rarely Used By Them, When They Were There, The Normally Were Dedicated To Their Charities In 1939, James retired from active business, although he continued to maintain an office in New York City. He spent most of his time at "Beacon Hill House", where he could garden for hours. He also spent quite a bit of time onboard his yacht, "Aloha", traveling the seas in style. The James's Yacht, "Aloha", Which Contained A 50-Seater Dining Saloon, Library, Parlor And Numerous Bedrooms Mrs. James passed away in 1941, while enjoying a summer at "Beacon Hill House". Arthur went into deep mourning, quitting his social career altogether. James died three weeks after his wife. For Once Since It Had Been Built, "Beacon Hill House" Sat Empty And Cold, The James's Furniture Soon Began To Collect Dust The mansion passed through several hands, until finally it was destroyed by a fire in 1967, only after being ransacked and vandalized countless times. Today the Swiss Village survive and so do The Blue Gardens.

Bookstores have always possessed such wonderful personalities — jumbled, cozy, charming. Hugh Grant’s bookstore in Notting Hill and Meg Ryan’s shop in

Tour Beacon Hill Books, America's chicest new bookshop in Boston, Massachusetts, designed by Cathy Kincaid.

Adams + Beasley Associates along with Lewis Interiors, designed a penthouse that showcases views over Beacon Hill in Boston, Massachusetts.

Bookstores have always possessed such wonderful personalities — jumbled, cozy, charming. Hugh Grant’s bookstore in Notting Hill and Meg Ryan’s shop in

This shingle mansion, dubbed "The Bird House", is located at 70 Beacon Hill Road in Newport, Rhode Island and is situated on 3.6 acres of land.

Beacon Hill Books & Cafe is an absolutely STUNNING bookshop and cafe that is a must visit when you are in the area!

Tour Beacon Hill Books, America's chicest new bookshop in Boston, Massachusetts, designed by Cathy Kincaid.

It's been a frustrating few weeks--miniatures-wise and life-wise. First, and please feel free to skip over this part if it's boring--we're not moving, after all. I'd been led to believe some things that, well, in the end turned out not to be true. After the initial devastation I realized that, oddly, I wasn't nearly as upset as I'd thought. Fortunately, neither was anyone else in our family. You see, in the end, I'd built up the idea of moving home into something it wasn't. Home used to be Maine; for years, I'd dreamed of moving back to Maine full time. And it was fun spending part of the year up there, with my family, playing outdoors, showing them where I grew up, etc etc etc. But I realized, in realizing some other things, that Maine wasn't home anymore and that wasn't such a bad thing. Home had somehow, over time, become Massachusetts. Which is where we are now. We almost got very badly cheated on what would've been a very large land deal and, to be honest, I've no desire to live next door to people who approach life that way. It seems that cheating me was OK, though, because--somewhere in those same gray mists of time--I'd become a "summer person." Well, I guess this means I'm moving up in the world! Anyway, moving on... My "Haunted Beacon Hill" is also moving up in the world. Its design keeps evolving; the more I work on it, the more complicated it becomes! From the get-go, I had some modifications in mind (adding a basement scullery being chief among them), but when I actually started putting the kit together, really saw it in the flesh, I realized a few things. I haven't even started on the basement yet, but it'll house a kitchen, pantry, and servant's room. My inspiration, here, was the fact that the house, as-is, really has too small of a footprint to do itself justice. Such a grand house really wouldn't have a combination front hall/dining room. A medieval-type cottage, sure...but a Gothic Victorian? But then, when I actually started putting it together, I realized that my new dining room (what's meant to be the kitchen, in the kit) was just way too small--for a dining room or a kitchen. Which gave me the idea of extending it. Which gave me the idea of attaching a greenhouse. My grandparents' old house had a greenhouse off the dining room, which I always loved. Just three additional inches take this room from so small as to be completely useless to really fairly nicely sized. I started out with a couple of Greenleaf greenhouse kits. After playing around with them for awhile, I decided they needed some kit-bashing--both for Gothic features, and for sturdiness. I decided that Gothic-style arches would look good. The first set of arches I cut turned out to be the wrong thickness of wood. The second set of arches I cut turned out to be the wrong shape. I will find a use for this plentitude of wasted arches...somehow. Luckily, my third set worked out. I built out the dining room foundation, creating a platform for the greenhouse. Here, I'm attaching the stairs. Which, in of themselves, were a serious effort. These pictures, sadly, represent an entire weekend's work. I wasn't entirely sure of where I was going--this is how most of my designs start out, to be honest--and so made quite a few mistakes. Somehow, the platform ended up being too short. Oh, well. The platform, steps and retaining wall are all just forms; I intend to cover them with brick (platform and steps) and stone (retaining wall) cladding. Or, more precisely, egg cartons but that's way, way far away. The not quite a tile decoration is something I picked up at a show years ago. I can't decide whether I want to make that up to go here, or whether I'm putting in a wall fountain. One is on its way from Sue Cook Miniatures; I'll decide when I have them to compare side by side. This is just a dry-fit. I'm going to paint and lead the greenhouse separately. Scale-wise, this looks to me like wood frame supports rather than individual panels. Instead of using lead tape to make the panes, however, I'll be using copper. Which, admittedly, is something of an experiment--although I have high hopes. Copper tape is very thin and bendy (being used on tiny stained glass parts) and, most importantly, doesn't contain lead. Not that it's a good idea to eat copper, either, but some craft supplies are not meant to share the house with young children. According to the CDC, home crafting accidents are actually one of the top causes of lead poisoning in children under five. I built out the front part of the platform, so everything would be proportional. You can see, pretty clearly, where the kit leaves off and my design begins. My add-ons are all 3/32" basswood. I was ridiculously pleased with myself that, ultimately, everything did go together more or less the way it was supposed to. I've seen arches like this on real greenhouses. I was disappointed to discover that the kit's roof wouldn't line up correctly...but then I made my own and was much happier with that, anyway! There are support beams under the supports; I left those taped on, for ease of fitting in the "glass." Ultimately, this turned into a pleasantly sturdy little item! Another view of the roof. Ultimately, this will have a tile floor. The retaining wall will be stone. Well, "stone." And here's a somewhat ungainly picture from the front. There are a couple things left to do: build the door, and run some sort of trim along the front where the door-containing panel and angled roof panel meet. I'm thinking something along the lines of a miniature crenellation? Something not-overpowering, that would yet look good in a Gothic setting. And yes, in case you're wondering, the door from the dining room to the greenhouse is a bit off-center. This is because I wanted the two dining room doors to line up with each other; I thought a little symmetry would improve the appeal of the room. Not to mention, make it easier to fit furniture in there! I like the way it's come out looking on the outside, though, because it echoes the general heap-ness of this house. There are a number of walls, planes and angles that don't quite line up the way you might expect...and yet, as a cohesive house, it all works. That slight note of...what? Informality? Makes it--to me, anyway--more believable as a Gothic Victorian. The ones I've visited, while strewn with gigantic fireplaces, gargoyles, etc etc etc weren't actually that formal. Which is, in the end, what I suppose I found most appealing about them. Please ignore the mess! This build is occurring in what is, under normal conditions, our library. And while I like to think I'm usually pretty good at cleaning up after myself...I'm a bit overwhelmed with craft items right now. It's a process. Also, too, between our mountains of laundry, my son's seemingly endless need for storage and my need for natural light, we thought a temporary move upstairs would be best. The odd accumulation of items taped to the blank wall don't actually represent anything yet, except a vague idea that "I'd like that space to be more interesting." I'm probably doing some sort of niche, although not quite as massive as what's currently taped there. Once I find a statue that appears to be the right scale, I'll have a better sense of what I'm doing. But I've seen features like this before--I went to college and law school in Boston, where there's a lot of over-ambitious brickwork--so I have high hopes. Ah, how that usually ends... Thoughts?

Here is the 1/144th scale Beacon Hill next to a penny.

Beacon Hill Courtyard by (Jessica D)

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When you hear the word 'Tara', many of you will immediately think of the grand plantation house from the movie Gone With the Wind. This type of grand house with a symmetrical facade and centre-hall plan, has long been a symbol of luxury and grandeur. In the mid-century this type of house was built by many builders in Ottawa. In some areas it was the only type of house built. In this posting I will look at the centre-hall plans built by Campeau and explore how the design changed over the years. In the 1950s Campeau had very few 2-storey designs, as bungalows and 1 1/2 storey houses were the norm. As such, the centre-hall plan did not appear in their design catalogue until the 1960s.  c. 1962. Riverside Park and Graham Park  This is an early example of a Campeau centre-hall plan. It is actually a contemporary take on the design, with a facade that is not perfectly symmetrical because of the staircase placement. The large 4 bedroom design was quite luxurious for the time. c. 1964. Playfair Park One of the key traditions of the center-hall plan is to have the living room on one side of the foyer and the dining room on the other, with the kitchen behind. This design had 3 exterior options, including a modern option below. C. 1965. Playfair Park, Russell Heights This design and the two below are essentially the same, just with different facades. C. 1965. Playfair Park, Russell Heights C. 1965. Playfair Park, Russell Heights <>The columns on this design are a direct reference to the grand plantations houses of the American South much like Tara in Gone With the Wind. While the house is not huge, the columns make it look much larger. <> C. 1966. Playfair Park, Riverside Park, Leslie Park This traditional design with dormers, looks smaller than a 2-storey facade, but still has the classic centre-hall plan. C. 1966. Playfair Park, Riverside Park, Leslie Park. One of my favourite features of a classic centre-hall plan is the large living room with windows on the front and the back of the house. c. 1967. South Keys, Beacon Hill With the growing popularity of a main-floor family room, the design of Campeau's centre-hall plans was tweaked in the late 1960s to allow this additional room. c. 1973 <><> While in the past, the centre-hall plan was wide and shallow, by the 1970s, the addition of a large family room, made many of these plans quite deep.   c. 1976. Arlington Woods <><><><> With a large house on a wide lot, the centre-hall plan can be very grand. In this example, the house actually extends behind the garage - which once again allows for a living room with windows on the front and back of the house.  c. 1977. Rolling Meadows (Barrhaven) <><>  Instead of the garage just being an appendage to the design - like in earlier versions - by the 1970s, the space behind the garage was put to use. c. 1977. Hunt Club Chase A wider centre-hall plan allows for a grand curved staircase, as in the designs above and below. c. 1977. Hunt Club Chase c. 1979. Hunt Club Woods Even on the cusp of the 1980s, the centre-hall plan continued to be popular. In more recent years, lot sizes have shrunk, so the centre-hall plan is often not possible. It appears every so often on corner lots, where the house can be situated along the long side of the lot.

Hampshire House Wedding in Boston, Ma by Shane Godfrey Photography in July of 2011. Ceremony and reception held on site - photos in the Boston Gardens.

Here are a few suggestions for what to do while you’re in Beacon Hill, Boston, an old and most picturesque neighborhood in the city.

Planning a trip to Boston? Rachel of Hello, Her shares an insider's look at things to do in Beacon Hill including where to stay & what to do.

Cozy studies and quaint sitting rooms stole the hearts of design lovers this year! Here, Veranda's most popular rooms of 2022.

Explore debsminis' 982 photos on Flickr!

Stunning contemporary treehouse on the edge of the Northumberland Dark Skies Park.

The hybrid spot, conceived by Texas-based designer Cathy Kincaid, is Beacon Hill’s first bookstore in nearly 30 years.

Foyer Flooring I had primed the floor with brown paint so I could apply my floor covering to it but later on I decided it would be easier to apply the covering to a template instead. I used copy... Co

Tour Beacon Hill Books, America's chicest new bookshop in Boston, Massachusetts, designed by Cathy Kincaid.